1912 Olympic Games Official Report Part 2

ling Committee had counted on, and proved that the interest takenin the competition was very great. The entries were divided amongthe various nations as follows:NationCompetitorsEntriesReservesAustriaBelgiumBohemiaCanadaChiliDenmarkEnglandFinlandFranceGermanyHungaryIrelandMonacoNorwayRussiaScotlandSouth AfricaSwedenU. S. A.TotalTHE DRAW FOR THE START.The draw for the order of starting, a matter of special importancein such a competition as this, took place at the first meeting of theCommittee after the close of entries, and in accordance with the followingprinciples.First of all, the nations entered were divided into groups of 12riders (the highest number of cyclists any nation was allowed to enter),and lots were drawn to decide the order in which these nationsshould start in respect to each other. In the groups which werecomposed of competitors from more than one nation, lots were alsodrawn to decide the order of starting of the various nations in thegroups. By means of this system of drawing lots, the various groups,and also those nations that belonged to one and the same group,came in the following order: 1. France; 2. South Africa, Monaco andIreland: 3. Sweden; 4. Chili and Denmark; 5. Austria and Finland;6. Hungary; 7. U. S. A.; 8. Scotland; 9. England; 10. Norway;11. Germany; 12. Russia; 13. Belgium, Bohemia and Canada.After this, there was made a final draw, to decide the starting orderof the various competitors with respect to each other, this being carriedout as follows. First there was drawn, as No. 1, a cyclist from France;then, as No. 2, one representing South Africa; as No. 3, one fromSweden, and so on. In the groups consisting of more than one nation,all the competitors representing the nation that was drawn first432